


staying on an even keel

by armethaumaturgy



Series: seawards [2]
Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Alternate Universe - The Little Mermaid Fusion, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sleepy Cuddles, merman mikleo, mikleo is worried(tm) about being left alone, reassurance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-22 23:03:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10706994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/armethaumaturgy/pseuds/armethaumaturgy
Summary: They both tense up when the silhouette of something that shouldn’t be on the beach comes up.A ship.And from even closer, they can spy a campfire as well, blazing high and warm, and figures sat around it.Humans.





	staying on an even keel

**Author's Note:**

> this can be read a standalone ofc, all of these will be, but they will be almost like. chapters i guess? anyway enjoy some Worry(tm)

The moon is already high on the sky, bathing the ocean’s surface with soft silver light, when a head pops up, disrupting the already agitated waves. Sorey takes a few gasps of air, hauling himself onto the raft as Mikleo emerges as well, the rock serving as an anchor getting placed onto the wooden raft by the brunet’s feet.

The boy looks around; dark, menacingly thick clouds swarm the moon, threatening to cover its shine, and the ocean’s flow is also very harsh, wave upon wave sweeping over the raft and over Sorey’s feet. The wind is also blowing in the exact opposite way of home.

“I’ll push,” Mikleo says, having to raise his voice to be heard over the water splashing. His brows furrow and he grabs the back of the raft tightly, tail flapping so hard that water droplets spray all over to get them going.

Sorey sits by the mast and holds onto it as Mikleo pushes him, frowning against the cold wind. Maybe they should’ve stayed down in the cove. Sorey opens his mouth to voice this exact thought, but by then the shore of the island is already visible in the distance, and Mikleo is gritting his teeth, his powerful arms trembling with the exertion, so he closes his mouth again and makes a mental note to thank the merman again later.

Though they both tense up when the silhouette of something that shouldn’t be on the beach comes up.

A ship.

And from even closer, they can spy a campfire as well, blazing high and warm, and figures sat around it.

Humans.

Mikleo’s heart skips to his throat and he gives the raft one final push with all his strength, ducking underwater and out of sight. But even so, even hidden underneath the unforgiving waves, he doesn’t feel any better, any safer.

Grandpa had spoken of this day, of the day Sorey would meet other humans. ‘ _The ocean is no place for a human,_ ’ he’d said. ‘ _He will want to go and see the world, he will want to be with his own. There’s nothing we can do about that, Mikleo. So when that day comes, you should be ready to say your goodbyes._ ’

In retrospect, it wasn’t the best thing to say to a seven year old, especially when the words lingered in his brain and kept dragging with him. He spent every day dreading just this, and now that it’s here, he realizes one crucial mistake.

He isn’t ready.

* * *

 Sorey looks back into the water, but there’s no sign of Mikleo left. They’d both been taught what to do if humans popped up; hide and pretend mermaids don’t exist.

Sorey’s eyes move back to the shore and he swallows, gripping his paddle and helping himself towards it. He’s greeted by a few dozens people. Even in the fading light of the moon and the flickering one of the fire, they all look tired.

All the eyes turn to him as his raft hits the shore.

Nobody moves, though, except for a short girl with hair that looks on fire as it bounces on her shoulders. She walks over to him and while he’s tying the raft to the secured pole buried deep in the sand, asks him, “Who are you?”

“I’m Sorey,” he says, turning to her. There’s something dark in her eyes, for just a split second, and then the light from the fire moves and it’s gone, so fast that Sorey wonders whether it had been there in the first place.

“Sorey…” she repeats, “What’re you doing here?”

“I live here!” he huffs, crossing his arms.

“Ah! So that hut over there is yours?” Rose points to his house with a thumb, and Sorey nods. She looks him and down with a keen eye, “You’re soaked! You should come and warm up before you get sick.”

Sorey has to look down at himself to confirm that, yes, he was soaked to the bone. He’d just gotten so used to being wet that he didn’t even notice. Despite that, and the fact that he’s just fine, he takes up the offer and follows the girl to the campfire where a few people scoot to make room for him.

Immediately, he’s handed a tin cup full of something from a wooden barrel, and the conversations that have been cut the second he’d arrived start anew, multiple voices talking over each other as they drink and eat — they’re roasting fish, and Sorey feels anger bubbling within his chest. Those fish were from around the island, and therefore weren’t seen as food, but more of friends.

To try and calm himself, Sorey brings the cup up to his mouth and takes a sip, proceeding to immediately spit the disgustingly bitter concoction out.

The red-haired girl laughs, downing her own cup in one swift chug. “What?” she asks, “You don’t like beer? What kinda man are you?!”

Sorey scoffs, setting the cup down next to himself with zero interest of drinking any more of whatever it is. “What’s beer?”

The girl scoffs back, cocking her head to the side and looking at Sorey like he’d just grown another set of arms. “You don’t know what beer is?” she asks, voice incredulous, “How long have you been stuck on this island anyhow?”

“Stuck?” Sorey repeats, shaking his head, “I’ve lived here all my life.”

“Huh,” is her only reply as she holds out her cup to one of the guys, who refill it with ‘beer’. She takes another long sip, but doesn’t immediately down it all this time around. “Where are the others? We’ve only seen your house so far.”

“There are no others,” Sorey answers honestly, “I’m the only one on this island.”

* * *

 

Mikleo’s hand rests on the side of the ship, eyes looking over the damage. There’s a hole at the side of it, but it’s above water, and thus doesn’t need immediate attention. All the other damage seems to have already been repaired, if the raised shadows of the plants nailed to it are any indication.

The same shadows hide him from the view — not that any of the humans are even on the lookout. No one even glances his way, they’re all too preoccupied with their talking and eating.

Mikleo watches, because he couldn’t bring himself to go back home. To see grandpa’s knowing look.

But more than that, he wants to make sure Sorey is okay. There’s no telling if these are sailors or pirates, but they’re still humans, and therefore dangerous.

Sorey seems to be talking to a girl, and Mikleo strains his ears so he can hear them even from so far away, eyes narrowing to see the befuddled expression on Sorey’s tanned face.

“Holy cow!” the girl exclaims, grabbing the attention of a few nearby people. Her voice is powerful, and even though it’s not that loud, it still carries far. It’s not hard to imagine her shouting orders at the men with the same ease with which she drinks from her cup. She leans over to look at Sorey closer, “Are you serious? Know what, I’m Rose, and this is my crew of sailors. We could take you to the mainland!”

And then all of Mikleo’s breath is gone, disappearing in a rush out of him, and his claws dig into the wood, chipping tiny pieces out. They fall into the ocean, too quiet over the roaring of the waves or even the blood thumping in Mikleo’s ears.

His ear fins droop and his deadly grip loosens, hand falling into the water.

Why did just hearing that hurt so much? He slithers beneath the surface, leaving behind only a few bubbles as he breathes out, a heavy weight settling on his large ribcage.

* * *

 “What?” Sorey asks, eyes going wide while Rose’s shine.

“We still have a little bit of repairing to do in the morning, but we’ll be setting off after that,” she explains, “It wouldn’t really be trouble to take you along. You must be really bored here, all alone.”

Sorey stares at her the same way she stared at him before, full of disbelief. “No,” flies out of his mouth as soon as he finds the power to move it again, “No, I’m happy here. I don’t want to leave.”

Rose startles, pulling back to shrug. “Your loss,” she mumbles, “You sure you’ll be all right here on your own?”

 _I’m never on my own_ , Sorey thinks, but instead he just says a simple, “Yeah.”

Rose seems to let it go, returning her attention to the meal and other people. Sorey stays, if only to keep an eye on them. In reality, though, he would like nothing more than to return to the cove right now.

He finds out that he really doesn’t like the company of humans. They’re too loud and too harsh and ungraceful and he grimaces at the mere thought of the merfolk thinking the same about him.

Eventually though, the ‘beer’ tank runs out and that seems to be as good a night call for the sailors as any, and they retreat to their ship, a few staying to sleep on the beach after setting out some patchworked blankets.

Rose lingers, looking at him in silence for a while while she formulates her thoughts in her head.

“Hey, Sorey.” The name sounds stiff on her tongue, unlike when Mikleo says it, all fluid and soft. “If you change your mind, just tell me, okay? We won’t take you after we sail off, though!” She chuckles as if she’d just said a great joke, but Sorey doesn’t seem to get it.

“Yeah,” he nods, thankful when that seems enough for her, and she twists on her heel, her shirt blowing with the wind as she retreats to the safety of the ship. Sorey watches as she scales the frail-looking ladder and hops on board, and thinks that that’s the most natural she’d looked all night.

As all the sailors settle down, Sorey himself makes his way back home, feet dragging in the sand as he pushes the door open. Mikleo is inside, shoulders bobbing in the water at the left of the small house, holding onto the floor with a grip that makes the scales on his wrists stand on edge.

“Is something wrong, Mikleo?” Sorey asks, closing the door and immediately on his knees, peering down at the merman with furrowed brows.

It obviously takes that for Mikleo to do a check of himself, letting go of the edge, arms slipping under the water in a soft splash of the liquid. He frowns momentarily, mostly at himself, and then shakes his head.

"No," he says, "I just wanted to say bye before you, you know, go."

No it's Sorey's turn to frown, his concerned look turning more confused than anything. "Go? Go where?"

"Where? To the land. Ah, I heard the girl offering to take you," the merman confesses, head dunking halfway under the surface, small bubbles blowing out of his nose. Sorey had always found that particular habit cute, but right now, it's anything but. "Grandpa said you'd leave one day."

"Mikleo," Sorey cuts him off before Mikleo could come up with anything more to say. He reaches out and grabs Mikleo under his arms, pulling him back above the surface, and halfway onto the floor. "I'm not going anywhere."

Mikleo's words fail him. So does his brain. Which is probably tied to the words, when he takes a moment to think about it.

"W-What?" he stutters, very intelligently, mind you.

"I'm not going with Rose," Sorey says. Normally, his soft, almost condescending tone would piss Mikleo off, but right now, it's just making him feel weirdly better.

"I- But why? You will be happier with the humans," Mikleo argues, propping himself on his arms so he's towering above Sorey, giving himself the tiny feeling of having at least a little control of the conversation. He's still confused. He'd prepared himself for this for so long. Why is it so much harder than he'd ever anticipated?

Sorey smiles, that toothy smile that seems to light up the place even with the sun long gone. "But my home is here, with you, Mikleo."

"But… You're a human. That's a fact you can't change. You're not… built… for our cities. You'd be much better off on land. And we… we can't go on land, so, with other humans… it'd be better for you…"

Sorey's hand reaches up, stopping just shy of cupping Mikleo's cheek, eyes looking for any sign of discomfort. When he finds none, he touches the soft cheek, thumb brushing over the rigid ear fin which lowers at the touch, along with Mikleo's tense shoulders.

Sorey keeps quiet, just petting Mikleo's cheek and fin with his fingers until he sees the merman finally relaxing a little.

"It almost sounds like you're trying to get rid of me," he jests, and immediately realizes that had been a poor joke when Mikleo's crystalline eyes go wide and horrified.

"No!" he exclaims, covering Sorey's hand with his own wet one. Sorey notices it's trembling where the rougher skin touches his. "We all just want you to be happy. And we… always knew we couldn't give you everything you need." Miklo's eyes fall down. "Deserve."

"I am happy though, Mikleo! There is no way I would ever leave."

"But what if you'd find you're happier away?" Mikleo insists, sharp teeth biting down at his own lip, peeking through.

"Mikleo…" Sorey sighs. "I don't want to leave and I'm not leaving, and that's final. Are you going to be on the land? I don't think so. And I only want to be where you are. Wherever that is."

Blood rushes up to Mikleo's face, coloring it a bright shade of pink that travels both up to his fins and down to his gills. Sorey startles, letting go of Mikleo's face too hide his own with the and.

"Ah, did I say that out loud right now?" he laughs. He's also turning a very visible shade of red, so Mikleo doesn't feel as bad. "I did, didn't I?"

Mikleo punches Sorey's upper arm weakly, retreating back into the water, back to just the top half of his head bobbing at the surface. "You mean it?"

"Well, you promised to help me with the leatherwork tomorrow," Sorey replies easily, almost chipper as he motions to the table by the other wall, covered by cleanly cut leather waiting to be pierced and sewn.

Mikleo raises an eyebrow, aware of Sorey trying to alleviate the tension. "Is that the only reason you're staying? Really? Me, doing work for you?"

In reality, there's a million reasons. And somehow, they all meet at the centre with Mikleo, like a big spiderweb, intricately and delicately woven just for him.

"Eating fish with you is great as well," Sorey says instead of that, if only to watch how much more embarrassed Mikleo could get.

Not much more, probably.

“Let’s sleep,” Sorey offers, “Rose said they’re leaving in the morning when they fix a hole in their ship.” And Mikleo knows exactly which hole he means.

Sorey shucks off his clothes and Mikleo pulls himself out of the water more. The two of them settle down, Sorey curling up next to Mikleo’s bigger body, letting his arms wind up around him, hold him close. He’s probably still worried Sorey could disappear while he’s asleep, and wants to make sure he’s still there.

Not that Sorey minds one bit.

“I’ll ask Rose to not tell anyone about the island, okay?” Sorey whispers, looking at Mikleo’s face, so comfortingly close. The merman nods. “Were you really this scared about me leaving?”

Mikleo ducks his head at the direct accusation as one of his hands winds through Sorey’s short hair, carding through and scratching at the skin with his claws. “Well, Grandpa said... “ and that’s where he trails off, feelings swarming his chest in an uncomfortable mess that he can’t make sense of. The only thing he can make sense of right now is his happiness; at having Sorey close, at not going to lose him.

“Hey, Mikleo,” Sorey says, leaning into the touch of his hand, eyelids fluttering closed. “I’ve never thought about leaving. I’ll make sure you don’t get scared like that anymore.”

Mikleo’s heart skips a beat. Now Sorey feels responsible for the family’s common sense. He feels silly. “You don’t need to do anything different,” he mutters.

Sorey hums, pressing himself even closer, one leg wrapping around Mikleo’s tail. Sleep tugs at his mind, but he isn’t sure what he’d like more; to close his eyes and drift to sleep, or watch the soft expression back on Mikleo’s face, where it belongs. “I know.”

**Author's Note:**

> im not too sure about the flow of this one but by now im too tired and zzzzz


End file.
